Category Archives: Art

Mistakes were made.

Art Education Technology No Comments

Welcome to 2009, a brand new year with new possibilities, new opportunities, new experiences, and the same old mistakes.

And more often than not, all of those things happen at the same time.

I have a habit of mine.  A bad habit, if you will.  A deep, dark secret that will no doubt haunt me as I’m now casting it out amongst the sea of the interwebs.

Sometimes I expect too much from my students.

I’ll take a moment for all of you to let that sink in and then collectively gasp at that realization.  It’s truly shocking, isn’t it?

Now this is not an every day occurance, mind you.  While I’ll often have high expectations for my students, they tend to rise up and meet those goals.  It’s amazing what kids can do if you just give them the opportunity.  However, every practice has a chance of failure.

Case in point: Yesterday I took a 6th grade class to the computer lab to make ads for a fictional recording studio.  The whole lesson was meant to build upon their persuasive writing lessons in language arts.  I’ve done similar lessons in the past, but always in the classroom.  Always with the more “traditional” art supplies.  Markers, crayons, colored pencils, those media are familiar territory to students.

Computers are … less so.  Granted, students can learn new technology quite fast when given the opportunity, but there is a limit to that speed, and yesterday I pushed it.  While I’m certain every student in that room was capable of doing everything I wanted, most could not do it in the time I was able to provide.  There were just too many new concepts to fit into too short a time.

Good work was done (and is still being done, from what the 6th grade teacher has told me), but we didn’t even get to upload our pictures to the wiki as I had originally planned.

So … what do you do when you find yourself in a situation like this?  Short term, cut like crazy.  decide what elements need to be covered right then and leave the rest out.  If it’s something you can continue later, save it for later.  If you know you just won’t have the time to revisit it, make the best of what can be done in the time you have.

Long term, reevaluate.  Not just the lesson, but the media used and the genre of that lesson as well.  With that class, I shouldn’t have used SUMO Paint.  Don’t get me wrong, SUMO Paint is awesome – but it was too much “new” in not enough time.  They’d just finished a PowerPoint project.  Having them build the ad on a single slide would have meant spending a lot less time on how it’s done so I could focus more on why we were doing it.

I’ll admit, in this case my bias against the ubiquitous nature of PowerPoint got the better of me when planning the lesson.  I wanted to show them something new and novel, and as a result I cost them valuable project time.

Was the lesson a loss?  No.  Even though we didn’t do every step I wanted to cover, they managed to explore an unfamiliar media (one of the objectives of my state’s art curriculum) and learn more about how advertisements grab your attention in order to persuade you (tying in with the state’s language arts curriculum).

Mistakes were made, but we learned from them.

And next time, it will be better.

Support the EFF!

Art Misc. Video Technology No Comments

EFFdonate

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is doing a fundraiser, and to kick it off they’ve released a short animated song to show just what they do.

If you’re a long term follower of this blog then I don’t need to tell you the EFF is awesome. While as an artist I feel I should have the final say with what’s done with my media, I think current practices go too far towards enforcing outdated business models.

Image uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

PUWT 2008 – Session 2: Pocket Size Multimedia Studio

Art Education Technology No Comments

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Presented by Evylyn Quinones

1st choice was on 21st century collaboration, but presenter was a no-show.  Walked in on 2nd choice as she was showing off her Flip camera.  Never got to see the built in software before – it allows for basic editing, but also allows you to upload the video to the internet.  Even better, you can change your preferences to save the video in different formats.

Moving on to her voice recorder.  Olympus WS300 – looks like David Warlick’s but I can’t check the model number right now without wifi.  (EDIT: He uses the WS100.)  Looks slick – built in USB (no cord), input for external mic and output for headphones.  Whole thing runs off of a AAA battery.

Talking about Podcasting with GarageBand and Audacity.  Of course, I’ve been doing that since before it was cool. I’m a trend setter, I know. ;-)

Moving onto iPods & iTunes.  A mention of iTunesU and all the cool podcasts in the iTunes “store.”

Talking about saving presentations to iPods as image files just like Hall Davidson.

Playing with the apps you can get for the iPhone.  I like the digital version of a level.

iMovie rocks.  iMovie 06 is so much better than 08 in my opinion, and apparently in the presenter’s opinion as well.

Benefits of YouTube – bigger audience, lower bandwidth costs.

PUWT2008 – Session 1: Treasure Hunting at the Library of Congress Online

Art Education Technology No Comments

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OK, I admit it, my first impression of the session was based entirely on the room.  How’s this?  They face forward to take notes, and turn around to use the computers.  The teacher can see every screen from the front of the room.  Sweet.

Presenter is Danna Bell-Russel, from the Library of Congress.

“Not about the site, but how to find things on the site.”

Presenting with Microsoft Word – Simple, unorthodox, but effective.

LOC isn’t in the business of censorship, but it does have a kid-freandly section.

“Digital Collections” – section with most of the content the LOC has digitized.  Start searches there.

They have a map collection!  I should have used that during my map lesson a few weeks ago…  In any case, their online maps allow you to zoom in and change views.  They even have election maps, as in red states vs. blue states.

Don’t type “Civil War” – too many results.  Refine, refine, refine!  It’s all about the terminology.  “Gas Station” vs. “Filling Station,” for example.

They have Teacher’s Pages with categorized topics and resources – even recorded sounds in mp3 format!  The lessons are created by teachers.  Some are quite huge, but there’s of course no obligation to use the whole lesson as is.

Some of the resources are RealMedia files.  :P

Buuuuuut, they also have an RSS feed. :)

Academic Aesthetic 161: Old vs. New

Art Education Technology No Comments
Academic Aesthetic 161: Old vs. New [ 3:43 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1101)

Creative Writing EnvironmentWritten during last Wednesday’s thunderstorm-induced power outage (which gave us off on Thursday…), and recorded during tonight’s thunderstorm, I talk a bit about how the “old” should not always be replaced by the “new.”

5 Essential Learner Outcomes in Art and Technology

Art Education Misc. Video Site News Technology 9 Comments

Back when I taught high school, I was often in buildings that were fed by middle and elementary schools that did not hold art education in high esteem. This meant that I had to tailor my lessons to cover things most students learn in their K-8 years but make them interesting for a high school audience.

It also meant that I was able to make a list of things that, once I eventually taught elementary, would be able to drill into my students to prevent premature baldness and graying amongst the high school art teachers.

This list included the following five things:

  1. People ON sticks, rather than people who ARE sticks.People are not sticks. (I don’t mind if a 3rd grader tries to draw a person and it doesn’t turn out, but a 3rd grader drawing a stick figure isn’t even trying.)
  2. Trees are not lollipops.
  3. Not every tree has to have a hole in the trunk. (Honestly, half of them draw the holes so they’re wider than the trunks!)
  4. I’ve never seen a blue cloud in a white sky.
  5. Sky touches ground. (A blue bar at the top is … a blue bar at the top. Not a sky.)

Granted, I didn’t cover these things in every grade and every lesson. Not all students are developmentally able to comprehend my little list, and I still have room in my curriculum to do lessons that are more fun than they are nitpicky.

But at least by the time they leave elementary school all of my students know:Kindergarten kids paint the sky down to the ground!

  1. A way to draw people that have at least enough mass to wear some clothes.
  2. A way to draw trees that are more accurate depictions than a circle (or green cloud) on a stick.
  3. That because it can exist on one thing does not mean it exists on everything.
  4. More than one way to make cool looking skies , including sunsets, storm clouds, and more.
  5. What a horizon line is.

My official curriculum is much more detailed than this, but I suppose these items are my “pet peeves,” if you will.

And this sort of got me thinking: Since I might become a technology teacher in a couple years, how will my list change? What are my technology pet peeves that I’ll feel I must cover, above and beyond the official standards?

I came up with something like this:Tools of the Trade

  1. Be safe! There are ways to be safe from online predators, stalkers, identity thieves, cyberbullies, and so on. Use them.
  2. Be creative! The great thing about the internet is that anyone can create content, including you!
  3. Be skeptical! The bad thing about the internet is that anyone can create content, including people who mislead others. Take the things you see online with a grain of salt.
  4. Be cautious! Also, what happens on the internet stays on the internet, but not in a good way. Anything digital can be copied and archived, as well as indexed for easy searching. Don’t put it online unless you want your mom, teacher, principal, significant others, and any future bosses to see it.
  5. Be clear! There media (PowerPoint, website, movie, etc.) should never be more important than the message it’s used to convey. Overworked and poorly designed projects can both keep people from remembering the very things you wanted them to learn.

Well, that’s my list, at least. What’s yours?

Author Puppets

Art 2 Comments

Courtesy of CraftyPodOkay, maybe it’s just the kid in me but I totally want to make these with or without teaching it to my students.

Maybe it’s because I like making simple puppets, or perhaps it’s because I like combining photos with other things. Perhaps it’s because I just like playing with toys.

You know what? I think it’s all of the above.

But here’s a question for you – if you wanted to make one of these, whose head would you use? A personal hero? Family member? Your own? Let me know with a comment to this post. I’m curious.

(Oh, and I’m still waiting for someone to find the lie. Do you have a guess?)

Academic Aesthetic 155

Art Education Netcast nextgenteachers Technology 1 Comment
Academic Aesthetic 155 [ 8:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (552)

Today’s show shares some more links, for your listening enjoyment.

Academic Aesthetic 152

Art Education Netcast nextgenteachers Technology No Comments
Academic Aesthetic 152 [ 9:48 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (669)

They're links! Get it?Just audio this time. I have a dentist’s appointment tomorrow and I’m afraid that I will be unable to speak at all afterwards, or at least not well since my face may or may not be numb.

Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway, today’s ‘cast shares three links, all taken from this list of del.icio.us links that include the tag “teachers20.” (The tag was created so that the links could show up automatically in the Teachers2.0 Twitter feed, which is a lot more popular than I am. My creation has usurped me! …. oh well. We also have a Ning site, if you’re into that.)

Build My Presentation!

Art Education nextgenteachers Technology 1 Comment

bwcamera.gifAs I mentioned in my last post, I’ll be presenting at next weekend’s Powering Up With Technology conference. My topic of choice this year involves using cameras in the classroom.

Any classroom.

Now I’ve used cameras to help me teach all kinds of subject areas, and I have ideas for even more ways to use them, but I also know a lot of you have used digital cameras in your classrooms in ways that I haven’t.

So I would like your input. If you have a moment, please check out my Digital Photography in Any Classroom wiki and see what I’ve left out.

I’m not asking for you to complete everything, of course, but if you have a lesson idea that worked well I’d love to hear about it. Hey, if the results of that lesson (or at least an example) are posted online, why not just add in a link to wherever they are?

I fully intend to continue editing this wiki up until (and including) (and past) the day of my presentation, but I would love to stand up there and tell my audience that the resource I’m providing was not just written by myself.

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